Finding aid for Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, circa 1870-1930. MVC017

Finding prepared by Library Staff. Further updates added by Krystell Jimenez, 2022.
This finding aid was made possible in part through funding from the County of Ventura and the Heritage Fund at the Ventura County Community Foundation.
Museum of Ventura County
2011, July 2022.
100 East Main Street
Ventura, CA 93001
library@venturamuseum.org


Contributing Institution: Museum of Ventura County
Title: Rancho Las Posas and Simi records
Identifier/Call Number: MVC017
Physical Description: 2.57 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1870-1930
Abstract: Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi were both Mexican land grants that were owned by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa Barbara. They cover large portions of present-day Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, the Oxnard Plains, and western Los Angeles County. Much of the land in this area was eventually purchased by Pennsylvania-based railroad executive and businessman Thomas A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later come to own much land in Ventura County. Bard oversaw Scott's business affairs in the West, which included selling and leasing portions of these large ranch properties. This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence. One plat map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.
Physical Location: Stored at the MVC Research Library. All requests to access special collections can be made in advance by emailing the Research Library reference desk.
Language of Material: English .

Conditions Governing Access

COLLECTION STORED ON-SITE: Open for research. Advance requests can be made to Research Library staff via email.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the museum does not hold the copyright.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, (Collection MVC017), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library, Ventura, California."

Provenance/Source of acquisition

Gift of the Bard family.

Processing Information

Processed by Library Staff, 2011. Additional processing by Isabel Kline and Krystell Jimenez, 2022.

Biographical / Historical

Rancho Las Posas was a Mexican land grant in what is now Camarillo, Moorpark, portions of Simi Valley, and portions of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura County, California. It was awarded by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Carrillo in 1834. Rancho Simi (also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí) was another Spanish land grant that covered much of Simi Valley and land in what is now western Los Angeles County. The land grant was held by the Pico family. Much of this land would eventually be purchased by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa Barbara.
Rancho Simi, as well as several other properties in the region, were purchased by Pennsylvania-based land speculator, railroad executive, and businessman Thomas A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later come to own much land in Ventura County. In the 1880s Bard would form the Simi Land and Water Company to sell and lease portions of the large ranch. The Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company was not strictly a Bard-owned enterprise. However, he was greatly involved in much of the development of the area covered in this collection. The Las Posas and Simi Valley area continued to be dominated by agriculture and ranching, including sheep, cattle, wheat, and barley. In the years leading up to the 1960s Simi Valley began to diversify its agriculture to include citrus, walnuts, and apricots until the advent of suburban development in the 1960s.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence. One plat map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.

Arrangement

This collection has no series and has been described at the folder level.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Simi Valley (Calif.)
Land titles
Rancho Las Posas
Rancho Simi
Simi Land and Water Company -- Records and correspondence
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company -- Records and correspondence

Box 1, Folder 1

Simi: Letters of Attorney

Box 1, Folder 2

Simi: Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 3

Simi: Maps

Scope and Contents

Plat cataloged in Map File M-451 and not in this folder. This includes a plat of the Rancho Simi finally confirmed to Jose de la Guerra Y. Noriega and dated January 1861.
Box 1, Folder 4

Simi: Descriptions

Scope and Contents

This folder contains descriptions of various tracts in Rancho Simi and correspondence related to the Simi Land and Water Company.
Box 1, Folder 5

Simi: Agreements

Box 1, Folder 6

Simi: Agreements (miscellaneous)

Box 1, Folder 7

Simi: Walnut Orchard No. 1

Box 1, Folder 7

Reference Map Index (Classified by Type of Map)

Box 1, Folder 8

Las Posas: Agreements

Box 1, Folder 9

Las Posas: Deeds

Box 1, Folder 10

Las Posas: Titles

Box 1, Folder 11

Las Posas: Titles

Box 1, Folder 12

Las Posas: Titles

Box 1, Folder 13

Las Posas: Description and valuation

Box 1, Folder 14

Las Posas: Storm waters

Box 1, Folder 15

Las Posas: Rights of Way - Highways

Box 1, Folder 16

Las Posas: Tract "C"

Box 1, Folder 17

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract mortgages

Box 1, Folder 18

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract agreements and contracts

Box 1, Folder 19

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract description and maps

Box 1, Folder 20

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract highways and R/W

Box 1, Folder 21

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds

Box 1, Folder 22

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds

Box 1, Folder 23

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds

Box 1, Folder 24

Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds

Box 1, Folder 25

Las Posas: Maps

Box 1, Folder 26

Las Posas: Surveys, tablings and field notes

Box 1, Folder 27

Las Posas: Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 28

Las Posas: Oil Leases Proposed letters 1913-1917

Box 1, Folder 29

Las Posas: Mortgages

Box 1, Folder 30

Las Posas Ranchos: Evaluation of buildings 1916

Box 1, Folder 31

Las Posas: Rights of Way - elimination of reservation

Box 1, Folder 32

Las Posas and Simi: Claims - de la Guerra

Box 1, Folder 33

Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (titles, boundaries) 1881-1915

Box 2, Folder 1

Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (boundaries) 1911-1917

Box 2, Folder 2

Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (boundaries) 1908-1910

Box 2, Folder 3

Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice-John)

Box 2, Folder 4

Las Posas Rice and Bell: Reports

Box 2, Folder 5

Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters 1912-1918

Box 2, Folder 6

Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice-Peter) 1874-1889

Box 2, Folder 7

Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice, Courtis M.) 1891-1894

Box 2, Folder 8

Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters 1873-1908

Box 2, Folder 9

Las Posas and Simi: Letters 1873-1899

Box 2, Folder 10

Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management) 1900-1910

Box 2, Folder 11

Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management) 1911

Box 2, Folder 12

Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management) 1874-1909

Box 2, Folder 13

Las Posas Water Company: Farrand, George H., water rights (B. I. Co., and L.P.W. Co.)

Box 2, Folder 14

Las Posas: Leases

Box 2, Folder 15

Las Posas and Simi: Reports, J.B. McKee

Box 2, Folder 16

Las Posas: Leases, American Beet Sugar Company

Box 2

John T. Stow notes of Rancho Las Posas: Field notes

General note

(Now recorded in Book 2, Miscellaneous at Page 246; Boundaries dated 1888)
Box 2, Folder 17

Limoneira Company

Box 2, Folder 18

Martin, Hugh B.

Box 2, Folder 19

Munger Property-Piru

Box 2, Folder 20

Santa Clara Water Conservation District

Box 2, Folder 21

Title Insurance and Trust Company (Ventura)

Box 2, Folder 22

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Financial records and secretary notes 1880 November – 1893 November

Scope and Contents

Folder contains letter of resignation from the director of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Co., annual and semi-annual stockholders meeting notes, secretary notes and letters to the secretary (mainly dealing with finances), notice of meetings, deeds, produce and hardware receipts from the dealers Wolff and Levy, checks from Santa Clara Water, insurance memos, receipts from the dealers A.J. Salisbury and Co., receipt with purchases from Ventura County Lumber Company, and Santa Clara Water tax records.
Box 2, Folder 23

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Legal documents 1904 January - 1913 July

Scope and Contents

This folder contains amendments to by-laws of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company, by-laws of the company, court case documents (for court cases against the company), deeds to the company, bonded indebtedness, and trial balances.
Box 2, Folder 24

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Account statements 1883 April - 1893 November

Scope and Contents

This folder contains tax documents, checks to and from Santa Clara Water and Irrigating, tax receipts, and financial statements.
Box 2, Folder 25

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Documents of the Board of Directors 1871 January - 1915 January

Scope and Contents

This folder contains proof of mailing notices for stockholder meetings, bank statements, Board of Directors meeting notes, letters addressed to the Board of Directors, documents reporting on the examination of the "Farmer's Ditch", affidavits of publication for the stockholders meeting, rules and regulations of the company, treasurer documents, and certificates of increase for the capital stock of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company.
Box 2, Folder 26

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Miscellaneous items 1886 March - 1893 November

Scope and Contents

This folder contains account books detailing grocery expenses, directors' resignation for the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company, and loose notes.
Box 2, Folder 27

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Stock voting records and ballots 1884 December - 1917 March

Scope and Contents

This folder contains voting ballots, voting registration documents, and stock voting records.
Box 2, Folder 28

Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Receipts 1884 August - 1908 June

Scope and Contents

This folder contains a checkbook and receipts.